I picked up this book because I am a fan of Emily March’s Eternity Spring Series, which is, in my opinion, one of the best romance novel series out there. So I began reading this book with high hopes.

Luke by Emily March begins interesting enough, and by that I mean, that starts with enough tension and action to keep me interested, but not so much that I was eager to get back into every time I put the book down. Thankfully, that changed after about a quarter into the book, and it actually got quite entertaining, so I am glad I stuck with it.

Maddie – not Maggie, as she is quite eager to point out – has quite a strange, and fantastical (what felt to me a little forced, and cringe-worthy) background story that “explains” a lot about her actions, and reactions toward Luke (the main male character. He, on the other hand, is a lot easier to like and to connect with. His motives and reasons behind doing what he is doing are clear. He mourns the death of a friend, which is never easy.

The chemistry – almost instant between Luke and Maddie, is real, which is one of the reasons I continued reading the book. I also liked the dog that was thrown into the mix, but I must say even my own dogs would have made better detection dogs than this one (I can not write any more about that situation without spoiling parts of the book).

Maddie longing for a real home, somewhere to settle were also very understandable, considering the above-mentioned background she had to endure, which in turn allowed me to emotionally connect with her. Exploiting that, was truly well-done by Emily March.

They are the Bad Boys of Brazos Bend—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John Callahan.

New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author Emily March invites readers to travel from Eternity Springs to Brazos Bend, the small hometown of the Callahan brothers snuggled deep in the heart of Texas.

DEA agent Luke Callahan has suffered one loss too many and a fishing trip with his brothers is just what his broken spirit needs to heal. What he doesn’t need is a gorgeous stowaway harboring secrets and running from killers. Never mind that he does his best work undercover…

Maddie Kincaid is accustomed to trouble, but she’d hoped to leave it behind when she settled in peaceful Brazos Bend. Who would have guessed that helping a gentle old man would land her in the middle of an attempted murder—her own? Now she’s running for her life—straight into the arms of the infamous Luke Callahan.

Lucky for her, he’s deadlier than the men chasing her. Unfortunately for him, protecting her means breaking a vow he holds dear. When the nights heat up and the secrets start to spill, Luke faces a brand new danger—losing the woman he loves. What’s a mad, bad, and lethal Callahan man gonna do?

This is a full-length romantic suspense novel of approximately 100,000 words, previously published as GIVE HIM THE SLIP. Revised and updated by the author.